Last year, while completing a Chorale Conducting university course, my lecturer offered to assist me in the formation of a choir and act as an ongoing mentor. I accepted, and by end of year, 25 young people joined the group. By God’s grace, we were on our way! The experience was challenging but worthwhile. As the rehearsals progressed, the group found their unique sound. It seemed that we had practiced only for days, instead of all the weeks, by the time we held the SDARM Queensland Youth Choir’s inaugural concert. On the morning of the 27th of November 2016, the 26 choir members and their parents made their way to the University of Queensland for the concert in the school’s performance hall.
After a thorough run-through and final rehearsal, we all met together for a prayer, to dedicate the concert to God and ask Him to bless our work. As friends and family filled the hall, the choir excitedly waited knowing that we would also have the opportunity to create a professional recording of the concert. This was a blessing, as one of the university sound technicians offered to do the recording for us.
We had the pleasure of performing a few choral works, and a few of the members also performed in a guitar trio, string quartet and chamber choir. One of the highlights of the concert was to have guest pianist Mary Chalaby perform a rendition of some of the best-loved hymns. By the end of the day we were thoroughly ready for a well-earned rest, and the festivities continued as we all gathered for dinner together at a local restaurant. Gifts were exchanged while we took the time to thank all the parents, caregivers, members, church family and God, who made this project possible.
What do we have to look forward to in 2017, you may ask? Well, 2017 brings an exciting season with many performance opportunities including filming a short video for the Good Tidings YouTube channel. This project has been unbelievable, and all our choir members are committed to spreading their love for music to all those around. If you would like to sponsor this ongoing project or would like to join or keep posted of all our upcoming events, please email qycsdarm@outlook.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
~ Elisabeth Balarezo